Raw Results – 3/16/09

A video putting over the Vickie-Edge-Cena-Big Show silliness from last week aired. They put a wonderful emphasis on Vickie smacking the Big Show’s backside.

Shawn Michaels & The Undertaker v. JBL & Vladimir Kozlov

Kozlov initially tossed Michaels back to his own corner with ease. Michaels and Taker had some words before Michaels went after Kozlov. He tagged Taker in quickly who went to town on Kozlov, laying him out with a big lariat. Kozlov bounced off the mat only to eat a second clothesline, one which sent him tumbling over the top rope and to the arena floor.

****Commercial****

We came back to Taker holding JBL in an arm bar. Michaels tagged into the match and was immediately whipped to the ropes, and came back with a flying forearm. He followed up with an inverted atomic drop and body slam which of course preceded the fling elbow drop. Michaels went to tune up the band, but Kozlov distracted him and allowed JBL to connect with a big boot.

Kozlov tagged in and tossed Michaels to the corner before hitting a series of shoulder thrusts. Kozlov whipped him to the buckles hard, caught him and reigned in a ton of head butts before connecting with a belly to belly suplex. JBL tagged in and hit a bit clothesline for a two count.

Kozlov tagged back in and after working over the mid section some more, Kozlov focused in with a bear hug. Michaels fought out of the hold and broke it before laying in with some chops. He flew off the ropes and hit a DDT which enabled him to make it to the corner and hot tag Undertaker.

Taker flew in and began uncorking rights and lefts before whipping JBL to the corner and hitting a big splash. Taker rinsed, washed and repeated the same move before connecting with old school. He gave a big right hand to Kozlov for the heck of it before hitting snake eyes on JBL.

Taker dropped the big leg and signaled for the choke slam but HBK tagged in out of nowhere, and hit sweet chin music to steal the win.

Winners: Shawn Michaels & The Undertaker via pin fall

Taker was furious after the match and chased Michaels up the ramp as Michaels looked back saying ‘not this time. He retreated to the back and Taker relented in his chase. His music played and he looked back to the crowd, only for Michaels to run back through the curtain and super kick him in the face.

****Commercial****

Edge walked into the back locker room where Vickie was. Edge said he had a week to think about it, and he said he was going to forgive her. He said Big Show was just using her to advance his career and just a home wrecker. Edge said what they had together was ‘real’. Edge said he really blamed John Cena because he tried to ruin Vickie’s life. Vickie said she hoped Edge took Cena apart later tonight and at Wrestlemania. She said if he lays one hand on her, Cena’s out of Wrestlemania.

A video showing the events between Triple H and Randy Orton aired.

Randy Orton has supposedly dropped the charges. Orton said Triple H, had he gone to jail, would have paid his debt to the public, but not to him. He said at Wrestlemania, it would be ‘Orton’s Law’ and he would take the WWE Championship from him.

Beth started tings off with Mickie James. She threw Mickie to the corner to work her over. Mickie tried to fight out but was quickly slammed back to the mat for a two count. Beth tried a dragon sleeper only for Mickie to get smashed back to the mat with a shoulder block. Mickie sprung up and hit a drop kick and tagged Melina.

Melina hit some nifty spots, dodging a lot of Beth’s signature spots, and hit a big face buster for a two count. Melina hit a senton before Beth caught her and hit a huge back breaker. Mickie bailed her out on the tag before Jillian and Layla dragged her to the outside. Mickie and Santino got into it on the outside (yes, seriously) and Mickie decked him with a kick to the gut.

Beth tried to drag Mickie back into the ring, only for Melina to sneak up behind her and roll her up for the win.

Winners: Melina, Mickie James & Kelly Kelly via pin fall

****Commercial****

Triple H v. Cody Rhodes

Randy Orton and Ted Dibaise are in tow for Rhodes to keep everything in check.

Triple H speared Cody and threw him to the outside. He tossed Cody in hard into the ring steps before slamming him off the guardrail and announce table. As Triple H lay waste to Cody, Orton & Dibiase made their way down to the ring. Triple H picked up the sledge hammer and stared the other two down. Triple H hit a big pedigree and motioned to the ceiling as a steel cage lowered around them.

Orton and Dibiase were beside themselves and the bell rang. The match had just started. Orton and Dibiase were trying to climb into the cage, but Triple H had none of it and he tossed Cody into both through the steel mesh. Every time they’d climb the sides, Triple H would throw Cody into them via the cage.

Triple H went to the sledge hammer and crushed Cody with it. He made the cover and that was that.

Winner: Triple H via pin fall

Orton and Dibiase stared down Triple H from outside of the cage.

****Commercial****

Dolph Ziggler v. Rey Mysterio

Ziggler grabbed an arm bar and hit a short arm clothesline before dropping a series of elbow drops for a two count. Ziggler slapped on a full nelson as the crowd attempted to rally Rey. Mysterio hit a jaw breaker before hitting a hurricanranna that sent Ziggler crashing into the turn buckles. Rey hit the Senton from the outside before setting up for the 629 and connecting. Rey hit the splash off the top rope and that’s all she wrote.

Winner: Rey Mysterio via pin fall

****Commercial****

Chris Jericho came out for a match and said he wanted to face Ric Flair tonight for what he did to him last week. He said tonight was his Wrestlemania. He said it was pathetically obvious he couldn’t just sit on the sidelines, and tonight, he was giving him his chance. He said Flair wasn’t a man, he was a coward, a joke and a pathetic, washed up has-been. He dared Flair to take his chance.

Ric Flair came out to the ramp dressed in his suit. He said even though he knows he can beat him, he was officially retired as an active competitor. He said make no mistake, he’ll always be ‘the man’. He however, didn’t want to tarnish his send off. He said he wouldn’t let his peers and people down that made that night the greatest night of his career. Flair said he couldn’t wrestle him, but he found some men who could. Jimmy Snuka, Rowdy Roddy Piper and Ricky Steamboat came out from the back and they made their way down to the ring. After circling Jericho, they jumped him but Jericho was able to wiggle away, only to eat a right hand from Flair.

****Commercial****

Jericho went off on the legends to Todd Grisham. He said he was going to challenge all three legends to a match against him at Wrestlemania.

Kofi Kingston, MVP & CM Punk v. Shelton Benjamin, Mark Henry & Kane

Shelton and Kofi started us off and Kofi attempted a roll up, only to get clocked with a lariat. Mark Henry tagged in and connected with a few right hands Kofi fought out of a headlock and managed to tag MVP and the two keep on hitting drop kick after drop kick in hopes of chopping Henry down.

Kane tagged henry and whipped MVP to the buckles before MVP dodged the splash. All six wrestlers are in the ring.

****Commercial****

We came back to Kane holding Kofi down across his knee. Kane caught Kofi and hit a side slam for a two count. Shelton tagged in and hit a right hand before pounding away and stomping on Kofi. Shelton connected with a belly to belly and after a little jaw jacking with the crowd, he slapped on an abdominal stretch. Eventually Kofi fought out and tagged in CM Punk who hit a lariat and a follow up bulldog.

Everyone came into the ring. Kofi took out Kane and MVP dispatched of Mark Henry. MVP helped send Shelton into Punk’s arms for a Go 2 Sleep.

Winners: CM Punk, MVP and Kofi Kingston via pin fall

****Commercial****

Big Show and Vickie are fighting in the back. Vickie’s stressed out. He said Edge accused him of doing the same thing he’s been doing the last couple of months. He said Edge doesn’t love her, but he does. He gave her a smooch and said he’d prove it.

****Commercial****

Cole & King Ran down the Wrestlemania card so far:

WWE ChampionshipTriple H v. Randy Orton

World Heavyweight Championship ? Triple ThreatEdge v. John Cena v. The Big Show

Todd Grisham asked Triple H how he got Vickie Guererro to cooperate with him with regards to the steel cage tonight. Triple H didn’t say anything. He got in his car and sitting in the passenger’s seat was Stephanie McMahon.

Vickie Guererro is on her way to the ring for the match tonight to be special guest referee.

****Commercial****

Edge v. John Cena (Special Guest Referee: Vickie Guererro

The two locked horns and Edge grabbed a side headlock. Cena slipped out and hit an arm drag before looking for an arm wringer. Edge decked him with aright hand and Cena crumpled to the mat. Edge hit some hay makers in the corner before Cena reversed an Irish whip and hit a fisherman’s suplex but Vickie refused to count.

As Cena exchanged words with Vickie, Edge jumped him from behind with an axe handle and stomped away at him on the mat. Edge brought him to his feet where Cena began to throw rights, only for the champion to block the last punch and send Cena over the top rope and to the floor.

Edge followed Cena to the outside and smashed his head off the announce table before sending him crashing into the ring steps. Edge threw him back into the ring before setting up for the spear. Edge whiffed on the spear and Cena hit his shoulder blocks. He capped off the rally with an inverted slam and then motioned for the five knuckle shuffle. After taunting Vickie he went into the ropes only for Vickie to throw herself on Edge. As soon as she got off, Cena connected and he went for the FU. Vickie snatched Edge off before Cena went for an STFU, but Vickie again interjected, slapping a headlock (awesome) on Cena.

Big Show’s music hit and he came running down to the ring. The two tied Cena up in the ropes and Edge hit him with a spear. Vickie came over and began slapping him silly. Big Show hit a big right to the gut and then hit another one. Big Show wound up and KO’d Cena with the overhand right and as he backed off to celebrate, Edge clipped him with a spear. Vickie didn’t look too thrilled.

RAW THOUGHTS

Show Thoughts— Tonight’s show was definitely a flat one. While there wasn’t anything that could be pointed to as ‘actively bad’, there wasn’t anything that particularly got you ‘into’ tonight’s offering, either.

The opening segment with Michaels and Taker, while it did feel a LITTLE re-hashed, came off really well, and booking Michaels strong in front of the San Antonio crowd is certainly the way to go. The whole way this is playing out so far, Michaels has looked really dominant, and I actually prefer that in the build of the match. He looks like a genuine threat to the streak. The match itself however, will likely be mostly Michaels bumping around and selling, which should work out well. Overall though, it was a strong way to kick the show off and did what it needed to do.

The one angle that I felt hit pretty well was the Triple H-Legacy stuff. I know people have this thing nowadays where they really want their heels to look super strong, and heck, call me a sucker for old school heels, but these three tonight reminded me of something I’d seen like 20 years ago, with the heels just bumping and flopping everywhere, reacting to what unholy deeds were being done to their henchmen in the ring. They really emphasized the intensity and the dramatics tonight, which I felt was a cool way to start to cool this off a bit before heading home. Dibiase in particular, flying off the cage and smashing into the guardrail and flailing his head.. so Dick Slater of him.

Perhaps the biggest downer of the night though was the Jericho angle. This whole ordeal just seems so on the fly, and frankly, direction less. While they DID announce opposition for him tonight (kinda), it still doesn’t feel ‘concrete’. As if the way it was done, was done so they could kill another week so they could buy someone and hopefully get someone to do the match. Its a shame that an angle with so much seeming potential, just hasn’t really produced anything worth noting for such a big show.

The Big Show-Edge-Vickie-Cena stuff structurally, is headed in the right direction. Up to this point, Edge has used Vickie as a shield and hid behind her authority, manipulating things behind the scenes in order to set up desirable circumstances. With that growing stale, and Vickie obviously being the most over of the four right now, protecting her and keeping her interesting is perhaps the bigger priority, they need to switch the dynamic up a bit. Sticking Vickie with Big Show works because now Vickie will be able to mature and grow her character without having to compromise too much. Instead of serving as a human shield, she’ll now have Big Show to protect her. Whereas you had to go through Vickie (obstacle) to get to Edge (the payoff), now they’ll have to go through Big Show (obstacle) to get their hands on Vickie (payoff). Big Show will have some direction and purpose because of it, and he’ll also get the residual heat that Vickie’s been getting just by protecting her and preventing the face from getting to her for that big payoff. So structurally, this is a good feud.

Where it falls short is creatively, largely due to the fact than rather focus on Cena stirring up the pot, its focused more on the actual ‘relationships’ between Vickie and her supposed suitors. Heel-Heel feuds don’t draw well (just ask Triple H & Kurt Angle), so I’d like to see them use Cena more effectively than they have.

Overall though, while there was again, nothing bad about this show on the surface, it just came off really flat and for a show that’s going to build up Wrestlemania 25, you’d figure it’d have had more ‘hooks’ to it.

1. Randy Orton 4-2, 9 pts. (Last Week: 1)— I personally enjoy the old school dynamic that Priceless had going on tonight as it was almost like seeing the Dusty Rhodes broken ankle angle in reverse. He and Dibiase were fun bumping like crazy. They might want to slow things down a bit next week though, before hitting the home stretch strong.

2. Shawn Michaels 6-2, 10 pts. (Last Week: 2) — This match is setting up for a really great HBK beat down at Mania. Michaels has looked pretty dominant thus far, which is setting up the Taker win nicely. Overall, even though it was a tad rehashed, it was a strong angle this week.

3. John Cena 5-4-1, 12 points. (Last Week: 3)— Easily the most interesting angle going right now, Cena looked strong again this week and the top notch selling was on full display, selling the KO punch like death and making Edge’s usually crappy looking strikes look like gold.

4. Rey Mysterio 6-5, 11 Points (Last Week: 4) — Even though its more or less being hot shotted onto the card, I’m glad Rey is getting a match and a match with a guy he usually mixes very well with. Guy deserves it.

5. Chris Jericho 2-4 3 pts. (Last Week: 5)— This angle is seriously losing steam in a hurry, and although the basic goal of preenting an opponent for him was met tonight, there’s still that ineveitable sense of what could have been. Its a shame that the on the fly booking was done so poorly for Jericho’s match at Wrestlemania.

6. CM Punk 5-5, 10 Points (Last Week: 6)— He seems to be the guy being booked as the ‘favorite’ right now, considering he’s pretty much dominating everyone else in that match from week to week. Of course that likely means he won’t win, but still, its not like it hurts Punk over the long haul.

7. Kane 4-4, 5 Points (Last Week: 7) — Run of the mill stuff from Kane tonight. We’re getting the usual from him, which is a run through my spots effort.

8. Cody Rhodes 4-1, 4 points (Last Week: 8) — Cody was pretty great stooging it up and bumping like crazy for Triple H. Post Wrestlemania, he’ll likely begin looking a lot stronger, but for now, they’ve got a good use for him in this feud and what they’re doing with both Cody and Ted is fine for now.

9.Ted Dibiase, Jr. 3-0, 3 Points (Last Week: 9)— See Cody.

10. Kofi Kingston 3-3, 5 points (Last Week: 10) — I was glad to see they gave Kofi the lion’s share of the ring time this week. These kinds of settings are ideal for Kofi, as a lot of his shortcomings are masked well in these situations. Regardless of where he ends up in the draft, that’d probably be the best way to use him through the summer, so by the fall they can reevaluate him and figure out where his place is and whether or not he’s going to be worth pushing.